Former Mississippi candidate Chris McDaniel says the GOP needs to be ‘purged’

by Meghan

Wednesday, Jul 23, 2014 at 12:52 PM EDT

Last month, Mississippi State Senator Chris McDaniel (R) lost a close runoff to four-decade long incumbent Senator Thad Cochran (R-MS). In the state’s primary in early June, McDaniel won the popular vote but failed to reach the 50% threshold needed to avoid a runoff. The GOP subsequently dumped millions into Cochran’s coffers and mobilized a get out to vote campaign that was reported to include registered Democrats, in an effort to put the 76-year-old over the top.

In the immediate aftermath of the runoff, McDaniel’s campaign questioned the legality of the tactics used by Cochran and refused to concede. On radio this morning, McDaniel explained what comes next in his fight for transparency and fairness in the election process and clarified his recent comments about “purging” the Republican Party.

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To begin, Glenn asked McDaniel about the status of the investigation into the June 24 election results.

“We still are in a position of challenging. Right now, presently, we are seeking information still from all of our courthouses. We have 82 counties in the state and still, today, there are 22 of those counties that really have not cooperated with us at all,” McDaniel said. “We have a petition already filed with the Supreme Court right now. What we are seeking, un-redacted versions of the poll books that we realized on the [June] 24, that’s where much of the problem is.”

Mississippi election rules employ an open primary system that allows registered Democrats who have not participated in their own party’s primary to participate in the Republican primary. But McDaniel’s camp believes Democratic voters in Mississippi participated in both the June 3 Democratic Primary and the June 24 Republican runoff.

“In our state, if you are a Democrat, for example, you cannot participate in the June 3 Democratic primary then cross over into the June 24 Republican runoff, which is what thousand of Mississippians did,” McDaniel said. “It makes them ineligible. We have multiple allegations of criminal conduct on the part of the Cochran campaign. 13,000 or 14,000 [voters] – it’s not clear yet because we haven’t gotten to all the courthouses about irregularities across the board.”

Last week, McDaniel made headlines for comments he made about the state of the Republican Party. In relation to thotion the Cochran campaign reached out to Democratic voters to secure the victory, McDaniel said the GOP should be “purged” of those who paint fellow Republicans as racists.

“They hired Democratic operatives to go out into Democratic communities and call me a racist,” McDaniel said. “That’s despicable… It goes to show that there are elements within our own party that have to be purged… There are elements within our own party that have no business being Republicans. Republicans should not behave in that fashion.”

Calling the comment “kind of scary,” Glenn asked McDaniel to further clarify what he meant by the remark.

“Well, it’s very clear. We cannot be a party of divisiveness. We should not be a party of racism. We should not be a party who uses race with inflammatory tactics. Those are the men and women I was talking about,” McDaniel said. “Those people do not belong in a party of Reagan. They don’t. It is not the party we fought for, not the party we fought for conservatism with. And I think there’s not much room for racism in the party.”

McDaniel went on to say he considers himself a “conservative first,” and it is important to realign the Republican Party with conservative values and principles.

“I appreciate your willingness to continue to fight. I honestly appreciate your willingness to come out and say, ‘Hey, I served this machine for quite some time, and this machine is dirty, and we have to fix it,’” Glenn concluded. “And I thank you for being who you are… [Y]ou don’t sound angry at all, Chris, and you have every reason to be angry. I appreciate that.”

Go to McdDniel2014.com if you can help with a few dollars. I sent a small donation before the election and after (to fund the legal bills). I am praying that the proper outcome is achieved.

ryukidn

I’m praying with you, but, even if McDaniel doesn’t get a new election, what he is doing in MS is long overdue. Evil hates sunlight and truth, and Chris McDaniel is proving to be a beacon, and is exposing the GOP’s true character for all the world to see.

Anonymous

Can you actually reverse an election or primary if you do find fraud or any illegal activities that can be proven? Has anything like that happened before? I can’t remember a case where someone who won an election, but when it was found that it was done in an illegal way, that person was actually kicked out and the rightful person put in. That needs to be done because fraud at these elections is rampant and it needs to be rectified.

Crassus

In 1947, the Senate refused to seat one Theodore Bilbo of Mississippi for making race baiting speeches during his campaign and accepting bribes disguised as campaign contributions. Not exactly the same type of situation you’re talking about but it’s pretty close. If the McDaniel campaign were to really press things and they were to receive some help from a combination of Tea Party Republicans and Democrats, Senile Thad could be denied a seat in the Senate.

You are so right, and we need to push our states to enact very strict punishments for voter fraud. The punishment for anyone who cares so little for our freedom that they will destroy our ability to determine the course of our nation through the execution of our elections as a bloodless revolution, upon conviction, should:

1/ Receive harsh prison time ~ 20 yrs minimum.

2/ Upon release, the offender should be banned for life from participation in any part of the electoral process. A 2nd electoral crime conviction is life in prison w/o parole.

3/ The fraudulent election should be overturned, and either the opposing candidate takes the seat, or a special election at the expense of the offending political party held.

4/ All votes in which the illegal representative participated, and voted consistently with the successful result, must be invalidated.

5/ The offending political party is to bear all costs related to the offense including, but not limited to special elections, any legal fees incurred by the opposing candidate or party, etc.

6/ Any other punishments that cause the cost of this treasonous crime to far exceed the benefits.

Yes, these are harsh. But, this is OUR country, and this is the freedom of mankind. If WeThePeople can’t choose our representation, and we can’t remove criminals from office, we will have ~ well, we will have what we have right now!

Lynne Holt Miller

Yes you can, but they don’t.

shannon

A similar thing happened in NJ. We had a proven Conservative winner already to run, but the GOP establishment instead of backing him, went out and recruited a Liberal Republican to push him out. It worked, and many many people in Nj are so mad that they either will not come out to vote, or will be doing a write in. The race was Lonegan/Macarthur. Lonegan had already won this district by 58% over Cory Booker, but lost in the general. He then decided to run for the house seat being vacated by Runyan. Instead of the GOP supporting him, which would have been an easy win, they recruited Macarthur. The NJ GOP is the most corrupt crony capitalists I have ever seen. They would rather lose to a Dem than support a Costitutional Conservative.

PJ1193

“The NJ GOP is the most corrupt crony capitalists I have ever seen.They would rather lose to a Dem than support a Costitutional Conservative.

I believe that applies to the national level as well. They see Conservatives as a bigger threat to their power than Democrats.

Anonymous

Texas Republicans pulled that trick on Ron Paul for years, but it does not make them dirtier than Democrats, who wrote the book on dirt.

ryukidn

Yes, it does .. they are officially the same as the DNC, they’re just not very good at it, so they got caught!

ryukidn

Does anyone know why we have runoffs? What is the alleged benefit to having yet another election, other than to commit fraud? Am I missing something?

David

In Indiana’s 5th Congressional Primary, the Kokomo UAW 685, Andre Carson Indianapolis political machine, and the Anderson, Indiana UAW 663 recruited and backed a candidate that only spent $300 on yard signs against an Air Force veteran and political new comer who spent $12,500 on a get out the vote campaign and whom carried a unity message of John F. Kennedy (Let us no seek the Republican answer nor the Democratic answer by the right answer. Let us not seek to place blame, but accept our own responsibility for the future). Their hyper-partisan candidate who won parroting national party talking points truly believes he can win with only party loyalists in the most reliably Republican, Reliably conservative district in the nation. The machine has ensure its own defeat.

Gabriel

We need a new party instead of sharing a platform with liberal republicans.

This should’ve happened back when bush was in his second term. The only problem was no one knew just how screwed up the republican base was at the time.

The only thing we can do now is take action at our local levels because those at the top are in neutral mode and they won’t stop this runaway train anytime soon.

We have to tackle things at local level but we have to get involved and work at ground zero.

We the people have to be the ones who decides what our future holds instead of federal Government.

I believe our nation is just about done for and all we need is another financial crisis to bring the nation down.

I also believe bible prophecy plays into this as well and right now we are treating Israel like an enemy instead of a friend.

I believe the majority will agree with me that we are heading for a disaster.

Gold and silver will only last for so long. People should invest in food,water, and protection.

Now is the time to get prepared because I don’t see the united sates standing much longer.

I don’t have much money nor do I have some underground bunker or what ever but I do know that Fema says we should be prepared for natural disasters. It’s only responsible to be prepared for whatever.

ryukidn

Another financial crisis? Did we finish the last one?

Alex Cunningham

IMHO an new party is not the best solution. I appreciate the idea because it has great intentions, but in the end its always important to win elections. The best way for a Conservative to win is to run as a Republican. The infrastructure is already there, and sadly there are too many people that vote straight ticket. A new party would split the vote and leave the Democrats a win everytime. The best way to win is to change the party from the inside, and kick these progressives out. McDaniel was trying to do that and I think he was and is on the right path. We are slowly winning like we did in Virginia. We have to educate our children and young people and reeducate where posible. These Progressives can’t live forever.

Gabriel

Easier said than done or else I’d agree with you. We have some really great candidates who could form a new party.

Alex Cunningham

I have to say I agree with you on your first point, but its still easier than forming a new party. keep in mind the infastructure in place now. Down to the state and county and district. with a new party you won’t even have every election area covered. The Republicans already do. Its much easier to use the party in place then form a new one. These good Candidates are not even guaranteed to jump ship. Either way is hard, but a new party would be a much greater challenge.

Gabriel

Short term forming a party now would be extremely challenging and wouldn’t gain much support. Long term after say 5 to 10 years we would accomplish our goal of having an established conservative/libertarian party. That would be a great start.

I’m telling you the tea party base is still growing and we have a lot of supporters out there.
The problem isn’t the support but the problem is the PR battles and people who feel entitled to use there base to demonize the tea party base.

We have to brake off from the GOP and find creative ways to win in the media ring.

Fox News does a disservice to the real conservatives out there because Fox caters to the liberal republicans like the Karl Roves.

The solution to that would be people actually investing in believe it or not excessive campaigns and find new ways to promote our ideas.

The problem isn’t our message at all it’s the media spinning and taking our message out of content to their advantage.

If we break away from the established GOP party then we could be free to do a lot more and won’t have to stay in their shadow in the political arena.

A lot of why we lose is because of having to share the platform with liberal republicans.

Trust me the liberal republicans are doing a great job in destroying their own chances of future wins.

Anonymous

the gop does need to be purged. before we can fight the progs in the democrat party, the progs in the republican party must be purged. there’s no point in voting if the choice is between two progressives.

BlueMN

“Purged!” A political purge! Like Stalin did to the Trotskyists and Hitler did with the SA (less bloody, I hope). The Tea Party is showing it’s true stripes, a small band ideological fanatics demanding strict adherence to it’s dogma. They’re even using the same terminology.

shock_immuned

“Purged” as in using the vote, the legal vote, in getting them out of office. “Purged” can also be found in the Bible.

juandeveras

Give yourself a rest. Read your dictionary.

BigSkyDan

I highly disagree… Always vote Republican because no MATTER WHAT I can friggin guarantee that they are more conservative than the Democrat.

Anonymous

My first involvement with politics was ” I Like Ike” but I first voted for JFK. When LBJ was selected as VP, the blush came off the rose. Then I suffered thru Nixon & Ford and believed the world was ending with Jimma Carter. Then the Healer arrived and America started to bloom again. My X boss GHW Bush then took the mantle and I thought done a decent job. ( I know he was a very decent human being) and then we were awarded with our first black president[ we are now sure it was a black heart] and America was offered a choice in 01 and Thank God Gore got Gored. GHW,s son was okay but too progressive for my tastes and then the World was saved by the 2nd coming of the anointed one. No need to beat that horse except to say how stupid American voters are to commit the same mistake TWICE. Both parties have departed sanity and the power brokers are getting very wealthy while America goes in the toilet. So I am in a quandary in MS. Do I vote democrat lite {Cochran} or pure democrat ?

ryukidn

Americans have a lot of soul searching to do, that is true. Our ignorance & Godlessness is killing our nation.

But ….. 2012 was theft, and 2008 is pretty questionable, too.

David

Read the Book of Jeremiah. The nation may be forsaken and her people carried to Babylon in chains, but the Lord WILL shelter and protect those who stay true to him. Some of the chosen people were left behind and so it will be true today. We can rebuild when the dust settles.

ryukidn

Indeed … the message I’m receiving is “Seek ye first … “. He has all the rest of it.

Thank you, David …

David

A John F. Kennedy candidate can win with a TRUE message of unity (Let us not see the Democratic nor Republican answer….). Unfortunately, the “great uniter” in practice does nothing reminiscent of JFK. Quote JFK to liberal Democrats and you get a blank stair back, even from those who were old enough to vote for him.

Crassus

JFK and LBJ would both be considered right wing extremists by today’s Democratic Party. Hubert Humphrey and George McGovern would be a pair of stodgy old moderates who need to be primaried out of their seats by more progressive candidates.

David

Except, LBJ was no conservative. His policies and positions were those of Woodrow Wilson and FDR, but taken to the next level. And Barack Obama has taken LBJ, crossed him with Nixon, and taken that to the next level.

Since McConnell is waging war against the Tea Party, we need to make an example out of him so that the Replublican Party will respect Tea Party members. The other Republicans will fall inline after we take McConnell out of Washington. Therefore:

THIS IS A CALL TO ALL TEAPARTY PATRIOTS IN KENTUCKY.
YOU MUST NOT VOTE FOR McConnell come November 2014.
WE WILL WIN EVERY OTHER REPUBLICAN SENATE SEAT BUT
WE MUST NOT ALLOW McConnell TO RETURN TO WASHINGTON.
WE MUST DEFEAT HIM IN THE NOVEMBER ELECTION NO MATTER WHAT!
VOTE FOR MICKEY MOUSE IF YOU MUST BUT FOR THE SAKE OF OUR
BLESSED COUNTRY YOU MUST NOT VOTE FOR McConnell IN KENTUCKY!
SPREAD THE WORD!!!
THIS IS A CALL TO ALL TEA PARTY PATRIOTS IN KENTUCKY.
DO THIS FOR YOUR COUNTRY! LET’S TAKE THE REPUBLICAN PARTY BACK!
THEN WE WILL TAKE OUR COUNTRY BACK!
AND MAY GOD BLESS THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA!